Lantern.



' INVENTO fla kid BY PATENTED JULY 18, 1905.

ulwlfflirnL D. S. WILLIAMS.

LANTERN.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 13,1903.

WITNSES: I l k f fi A TT ORNE Y.

UNITED STATES Patented July 18, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

OF ON E-HALF TO WVILLARD O. H

SYLVANIA OSBAOH, OF PHILADELPHIA. PENN- LANTERN...

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,907, dated July 18, 1905, Application filed July 13,1903. Serial No. 165,216.

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID S. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia,in thecounty of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lanterns,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lanterns; and it consists in devices whereby the wick may be conveniently raised and lowered from the outside, making it unnecessary to remove the oil-reservoir or to otherwise open the lantern, as is required with common forms, which cause considerable annoyance to railroad men and watchmen during cold or windy weather.

My invention will be morefully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 illustrates a side elevation of a lantern constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section of the same, taken on a line indicated at 2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 indicates a vertical section of the oil-reservoir and burner, showing the manner of securing the burner against turning. Fig. l is a detached perspective view of the locking-spring. Fig. 5 represents a view similar to Fig. 3 with a modified arrangement of gears for turning .the wickstem, and Fig. 6 illustrates a still further modified type in which the round spiral wormgear of Fig. 5 is replaced by a flat-surface worm or snail wheel, and Fig. 7 illustrates a modification in which aflexible shaft is made to perform the same service as the gear-wheel referred to.

Referring to the reference-letters of the drawings, A represents the frame of the lantern, Bthe oil-reservoir, and C and O, respectively, the burner and wick.

The burner C is provided with the usual wick-stem G which is fitted with star-wheel 0 c to move the wick, the stem being turned ordinarily by a knurled disk at the outer end of the wick-stem. My object, as may be seen, is to dispense with this disk and provide a mechanism by which the stem may be operated from without the lantern, which object I accomplish as follows: As will be seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 1 provide the wick-stem O with a bevel gear O, which is adapted to mesh with a similar gear 0 on a vertical shaft 0, which is also provided with a knurled operating-knob C by which the shaft and its connecting parts may be turned.

The shaft C may, if desired, be secured to the outside of the reservoir B; but, as shown in the drawings, I prefer to have it guided in a tube D, which passes through the oil-reservoir and is secured by solder or other wellknown means to the top and bottom thereof.

In order to provide means whereby the gears O and C may be caused to be engaged with each other when the burner-head C is in position and to disengage the gears when it is desired to remove the burnerhead, I provide the following expedient:

On top of the oil-reservoir I secure a curved leaf-spring E, which is held in place by rivets c c. This spring has a hole or opening a, through which passes the shaft O, and an upward-turned recessed end 0 which engages the shaft C Thus it will be seen that the spring E by pressing upward against the hub of the gear O will always tend to keep the said gear and its corresponding gear O in mesh, while at the same time the upturned notched or recessed end a of the spring engages the shaft (1 and looks it against turning. When it is desired, however, to remove the burner-head, which, as will be seen, is threaded to the top of the oil-reservoir in the well-known manner, it is only necessary to pull down the knob C as shown by dotted line in Fig. 3, against the action of the spring E, when the burner-head may be quickly removed and afterward readjusted.

As my invention is not limited to the specific means for carrying out the same, I have in addition to the form just described shown several examples of analogous forms or modifications-as, for instance, in Fig. 5 l illustrate a method of turning the stem C from the shaft G by the interposition of a worm F and a worm-wheel F. In Fig. 6 the same is accomplished by substituting a flat worm or snail F and causing it to engage the wormwheel F from below, thus making it easier to bring these elements into and out of engagement, and in Fig. 7 I have shown the stem C and shaft C united by a coil or flexible shaft G, which may be detachably secured at one or the other of its ends, or, if desired, at both of its ends, in any desired manner.

Having described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a lantern, the combination with the oilreservoir, of a burner-head mounted thereon and provided with a wick-stem, an operatingrod guided upon the oil-reservoir, and means serving to normally hold said rod in operative engagement with the wick-stem, said means also engaging the wick-stem to prevent the burner-head from turning.

DAVID S. WVILLIAMS.

Witnesses ARNOLD KATZ, EUGENE V. EOGGEY. 

